Pfffffttt!
"Strained by influx of asylum-seekers, Sweden denies Iraqis"
"by Louise Nordstrom, Associated Press | March 31, 2008
SOLLENTUNA, Sweden - The fear of being sent back to Baghdad has taken its toll on Mustafa Aziz Alwi.
He says he cannot sleep and has lost about 20 pounds since his petition for asylum in Sweden was rejected in January.
"They told me it's because it's calmer in Iraq now, that I can go back and be happy. But they don't know that it's death there," said Aziz Alwi, 25, wiping away tears in an interview at his cousin's apartment in the Stockholm suburb of Sollentuna.
Oh, no, no, Iraq is returning to normalcy!
I know because George W. Bush told me so!
Had his case been decided a year earlier, he would probably already hold a residence permit. Sweden has given shelter to about 100,000 Iraqis, 40,000 of them since the US-led invasion in 2003. That's far more than any other Western country has approved, including the United States, which admitted just over 1,600 Iraqi refugees in the 2007 fiscal year, nearly 400 short of the annual goal of 2,000, and a big reduction from an initial target of 7,000.
But Sweden has gradually tightened its asylum rules, worried that its generous welfare system can't cope.
You point that out here in Zionist-controlled AmeriKa and you are branded a racist!
The effects became evident this year, when immigration statistics obtained by the Associated Press showed only 28 percent of the petitions were approved in January and 23 percent in February, down from 85 percent in January 2007.
While Sweden has won praise for the welcome it extends to Iraqis, the government sees the surge of newcomers as out of control and has appealed in vain to fellow European Union states to share the burden.
"We find it totally unacceptable that some countries do a lot while others do very little," Migration Minister Tobias Billstrom told the AP.
"When very many people arrive within a very short period of time, it puts an enormous strain on the system, like schools and healthcare," he said.
In 2007, more than 18,000 Iraqis applied for asylum in Sweden, four times more than in Germany and 10 times more than in Britain, according to the European Council of Refugees and Exiles, an advocacy group.
But the numbers dropped sharply this year, with only 835 asylum-seekers coming to Sweden in February, down nearly 40 percent from the previous month to the lowest level since July 2006. In the first three weeks of March, only 376 Iraqis sought asylum in Sweden, suggesting the downward trend continues.
"Unfortunately we're not surprised," said Bjarte Vandvik, secretary general of the European Council of Refugees and Exiles. "It was going to happen sooner or later. The lack of solidarity in Europe . . . has had this very unfortunate effect."
Sweden's turning point came last July when the Migration Board, citing decisions by the nation's highest immigration court, said the situation in Iraq could not be described as an armed conflict.
Are you f***ing KIDDING ME?!?
Then YOU GO LIVE THERE, Ulf!
Although I wish the world would call the Iraq situation what it is -- an OCCUPATION!!!!!
As a result, asylum-seekers now must show that they have fled specific threats of violence; general turmoil is no longer sufficient grounds.
Some international refugee specialists say they've noticed a recent drop in refugees both inside and outside Iraq as security there has improved.
Pfffffftttt!
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that about 2.5 million people are displaced within Iraq, while 2 million more have fled to neighboring Arab countries.
Courtesy of the U.S. INVASION! THIS ALONE disqualifies any "success" that is claimed over there!
This MASS-MURDERING OPERATION and OCCUPATION was a FAILURE FROM THE START!!!!
Only about 1 percent have sought asylum in industrialized countries, the UN said. Of those, Sweden stands out.
The country of 9.1 million emerged as the favored Western destination for Iraqis in 2006. The general unrest in Iraq was reason enough to win a residence permit.
The industrial city of Sodertalje, 22 miles south of Stockholm, exemplifies the result.
Nicknamed "Little Baghdad," Sodertalje is home to more than 6,000 Iraqis, mainly Christians, who account for about 7 percent of the city's population."Yeah, CHRISTIANS GOT RUN OUT of Iraq.
Isn't it sad that Saddam Hussein protected Christians more than the allegedly Christian George Bush?
Almost as if Bush is some sort of ANTI-CHRIST!!!!
Here is his chance to prove it:
"US probes contract on Iran gas supplies"
BERN - The United States has demanded to see a Swiss contract for natural gas supplies from Iran to determine whether it violates an American sanctions law against Tehran, the US Embassy in Switzerland said yesterday. A posting on the embassy website questions whether neutral Switzerland's position as representative of American interests in Iran and Cuba could be affected. The Swiss Foreign Ministry declined to comment (AP)."
How about probing all the WAR LOOTING and THEFT instead?!
Of course, I only get a picture of the Persian parade in my Zionist War Daily!
Wouldn't want those people to appear human, would you?
And if I hadn't looked closely, I'd have missed it!
Caption: "Dancers dressed in traditional Persian attire made their way down Madison Avenue during the fifth annual Persian Parade yesterday in New York"
And USrael is going to flatten the place in less than a week!!!
